Oiler.



I. F. MAclNDOE."

OILER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.6. 1917.

E,29,1. Patented Jan. 7,1919.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

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Imwwtor I. I MCI {74% mes 7 14/ Jltiomq UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN FRANKLIN MAGINDOE, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TOFRANKLIN BRASS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA, ACORPORATIONOF PENNSYLVANIA.

OILEBI.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. '7, 1919.

Application filed August 6, 1917. Serial No. 184,575.

INDoE, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of-Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOilers, of which the following is a specification.

The ob ect of my invention is the construction of an oilr or lubricatorfor elevator guide rails and the like, which will be simple andcomparatively inexpensive to manufacture, durable in use, and which willnot clog nor drip, and such other purposes as may hereinafter appear,and to that end consists in the novel features of construction,combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein the preferred embodiment of myinvention is illustrated,

Figure 1 is a side view of the device,

Fig. 2 is a top View of the device,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3--3 of Fig. 4 is a plan view of thedevice on line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a distributer, Fi 6 is a sectional view:ofthe device showlng a singledistributer, instead of a plurality ofdistributers, and FFig. 7 is a detail view on line6-6 of Similarreference characters refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

Elevator oilersemploying fabric wicks as a means for conveying oil toelevator guide rails may be described as being of two types, viz: thestraight capillary type and the capillary-gravity type.

In the former the wick contacts against the rail and as the oil isremoved from the end of the wick by the' mechanical. action of theelevator, that is the movement of the elevator up and down the rail, theoil continues to rise. This method is more or less unsatisfactory as thepressure of the wick against the rail and its being moved at a rapidspeed in contact, and the dust and dirt usually prevalent in elevatorshafts, to a greater or lesser degree, causes the part of the wickbearing against the rail to become glazed, thereby mterrupting thecirculation of the oil from the lubricator to the rail,

making it necessary to either replacewith new wicks, or to remove theglazed wick, and immerse it in kerosene, gasolene or some similar fluidto remove the hardened surface from the wick in order to'make thelubricator again operative. As to the second type described ascapillary-gravity, thistype was designed to overcome the defectiveoperation of the straight capillary type, and while the glazed wickdefect has been corrected, another element of defectiveness is apparent,namely, the inability to control the flow of the oil causing acirculation of oil to the rail as long'as any remains in the lubricator.This actlon occurs at all times, especially at increased temperatures,no matter if the car is running or at rest. It is therefore obvious thatwhen the car is in the pit at night, Sundays and holidays, the oilcontinues to flow in proportion to the carrying capacity of the wicks,and trickles down the guide rails, not only wasting the oil, but makingit necessary to' employ drip pans, or placing bunches of waste to absorbthe oil, the latter being, to a partial degree, an element of fire risk.

This present invention, known as the under-feed oiler, because of theposition of the distributers, (being beneath the lubricant), is of thecapillary-gravity type.

As capillary circulation cannot ,be controlled unless either thedischarge end of the wick is disengaged from the rail or the submergedend is removed from the oil, I have designed the distributers in mylubricators to store the oil that has circulated during the idleperiodsof the elevator and apply this oil to the rail on the first tripthe car makes out of the pit. The advantage of this being. that I makegood use of the oil that would have been wasted in other types ofcapillary-gravity oilers that do not provide storage typedistributers,

Another feature .of my device is the ability to use heavy oils or fluidgrease and adjust a port so that the wick saturation can be maintainedto a maximum that will not be affected by the low temperatures of'winter or the heat of summer; this is an important feature as numerousfreight elevators while loading are exposed to low temperatures inwinter.

While it is admitted that the co-efiicient of friction of oil is not aslow as the 00- efficient of grease, and that the lubrication of verticalsurfaces such as guide-rails of elevators is more diflicult owing to theinability to efficiently use a circulating system on accountof the oilrunning down the'surface, yet the construction of my lubricator is suchthat oil wastage is prevented, and that a maximum saturation of the wickis maintained, and that as the wicks which I employ do not contact withthe rail surfaces, and are concealed and protected from dust and dirt,it produces a lubricator having many polnts of superiority, over thelubricators of the same type now in use.

Referring to the drawings the letter a represents a body, reservoir orreceptacle for the oil, preferablyv of..the design shown, secured to theelevator shoe in any suitable manner; As here illustrated by means of adrilled pad (1 with the set screw 6 to any suitable attachment toelevator shoe.

Said reservoir a is provided with a suitable cover 6, hinged as shown at0 to permit of ready ingress and egress to the interior of saidreservoir.

A central distributer f is positioned equidistant between sidedistributers g and g as shown, the three distributers being groupedwithin the under part of said reservoir a. Said central distributer f isslidably mounted in pocket h recessed in under side of body a.

A spring 2' is provided between the rear wall j of pocket It and therear part of said distributer f, for the purpose of holdin saiddistributer in contact with the rail and allows for free movementthereof for any lateral motion of the elevator, and holds saiddistributer so that it will not leave its contact with the rail in orderthat it may lubricate the face of said rail. Distributers g and g areslidably mounted in the lower part of reservoir (1 as shown, directlyopposite each other. They are provided, in the same manner as thedistributer f, with springs m and m positioned as illustrated, thereservoir or body a being bulged as at Z to provide s aces therefor, forthe purpose of holding said distributers in contact with the rail is andthey allow for free movement thereof for any lateral motion of theelevator, and hold said distributers so that they will not leave theircontact with the rail in order that they may lubricate the sides of saidrail.

Directly above pocket h an auxiliary pocket n is provided, asillustrated, in the under portion of the body a for the purpose ofproviding means of access for the wicks o to the distributers and forthe purpose of allowing adjusting space for the tube 1).

These tubes p contain ports 9 drilled in a threaded portion of saidtubes as shown, the opening being exposed to the oil reservoir a whenthe tube is turned upwardly permitdrawings, showin distributer f, abrldge wall t, having a slopting the oil to enter said port to increasethe saturation. of the wick or to permit the oil to run by gravlty intothe pockets at, thence to the 'distributers, if so desired. A metalstrip 7* is employed to keep the wicks '0 taut. Limit stops 8 areprovided to prevent the distributers g and g from being displaced ingsurface, 1s provided as shown, the lower portlon thereof terminating atthe face of said distributer to permit the oil to flow to the guide railwithout interruption. Said bridge wall 25 also acts as a wall to thestoreage space u, but does not extend to the full height of thedistributer I so that theoil can flow over the top of the bridge wallinto the space to withoutflowing over the top of the dlstributer, aswhen the distributer f is in contact with the guide rail is the storagespace u is directly under the reservoir outlet. Passages v are providedto drain the oil that has been stored in space M permitting theoil to beapplied to the rail as the elevator is in motion. Distributers g and 9'have the same construction in this respect as distributer f. The wicks oextend from the-bottom of the reservoir a upwardly and above the surfaceof the oil into, down and through the internal tubes p, emerging fromthe lower end of said tubes into the pocket n, thence to the distributeras illustrated.

A slot '10 is provided in the upper end of internal tube 39 tofacilitate adjustment. I

As described the distributers have a double feed, one being an inclinedsurface taking the ordinary wick delivery, the other..com-

prising apassage or passages so formed as to drain the surplus oil savedduring idle periods and delivering same to the guide.

The wicks 0 are a fixed part of the construction'and are not exposed tothe dirt or dust, nor contacts with the rail, and are therefore not anactive working part; that is, the distributers can be replaced withouthaving to use new wicks, or dismantling the wicks. I

The distributers afford greater protection to the elevator shoes bypicking up the grit instead of riding over it-this-reduces the wear ofelevator shoes to a marked degree.

The ports 11 provided in the lower end of each tube 11 can be concealedby turning the tube downwardly, as they are drilled in the threadedportionof the tube, and when so concealed, make the operation strictlyof the capillary gravity type using the lighter grades of oill The wicks0 are mounted on metal strips, or on wire for ease of assembling andpassed down through the cavity or socket n provided immediately aboveeach istributer pocket or cavity h for the delivery or discharge end ofthe wick, which 'in practice comes to and lies at the outer eredduringthe idle periods'of the elevator.

Passages or channels are provided to convey to the rail the oil thussaved during said idle periods, thereby increasing the lubrication ascompared. with other types of oilers now in use.

In general practice one tube and one wick are provided for each surface,although a single wick and a single tube, as illustrated in Fig. 6,canbe used for lubricating the front surface of the guide rail-a lesserde- 20 gree of efiiciencv resulting.

I do not restrict myself to the exact de tails ofconstruction,combination and arrangement herein set forth, it being obvious thatminor variations thereof not involving the exercise of invention may bemade by the skilled mechanic, and such departure from what is hereindescribed and claimed not involving invention I consider as within theterms and scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. An oiler for elevator guide rails, comprising a reservoir to becarried by the ele- .vator, distributors slidably mounted in the lowerpart of said reservoir and beneath the lubricant, meansfor holding saiddistributers in operative contact with the guide rail. internal tubes,wicks extending upwardly from the bottom of said reservoir into, downand through said internal tubes, a pocket provided in the under portionof said oiler, said wicks emerging from said tubes into said pocket andthence to the distributers and means carried by said internal tubes toincrease the wick saturation.

2. An oiler for elev'ator guide rails, comprisinga reservoir to becarried by the elevator, distributers slidably mounted in the lower-partof said reservoir and beneath the lubricant, means for holdin saiddistributers in operative contact wit the guide rail, internal tubes,wicks extending upwardly from the bottom of said reservoir into, downand through said internal tubes, a pocket provided in the under portionof said oiler, said Wicks emerging from' said tubes into saidpocket andthence to the distributers,

ports, drilled in the threaded portion of.

said tubes, by means of which an increased saturation of. said wicks maybe had or heavier grades .of oil may be used.

3. An oiler for elevator guide rails, comprising a reservoir to becarried by the elevator, distributors slidably mounted in the lower partof said reservoir and beneath the lubricant, means for holding saiddistributer in operative contact with the guide rail, internal tubes,wicks extending upwardly from the bottom of said reservoir into, downand through said internal tubes. a pocket provided in the under portionof said oiler, said wicks emerging from said tubes into said pocket andthence to the distributers, ports, drilled in the threaded portion ofaid tubes, by means of which an increased saturation of said wicks maybe had or heavier grades of oil may be used and means for concealingsaid ports whereby lighter grades of oil may be used.

4. An oiler; for elevator guide rails, comprising a reservoirto becarried by the elevator, distributers slidably mounted in the lower partof said reservoir and beneath the lubricant, 'means for holding saiddistribtubes into said pocket and thence to the distributers,'providingmeans for access of the wicks to the distributers and to allow anadjusting space for said internal tubes.

5. An oiler for elevator guide rails, comprising a reservoir to becarried by the elevator, distributers slidably mounted in the lower partof said reservoir and beneath the lubricant, means for holding saiddistributers in operative contact with the guide rail, internal tubes,wicks extending upwardly from the bottom of said reservoir into. downand through said internal tubes,'a ocket provided in the under portionof ai oiler, said wicks emerging from .said tubes into said pocket andthence to thedistributers, said wicks being at all times concealed toprevent dust and dirt from clogging the pores thereof. 1

6. An oiler for elevator guide rails, comprising a reservoir to becarried by the ele-.

vator, distributers slidably mounted in the lower part of said reservoirand beneath the lubricant, means for holding said distributers inoperative contact with the guide tributers, sa'id distributers providingmeans for the storage of lubricant while the elevator is not in motionand means for draining such stored lubricant when the elevator is inmotion. 4

7. An oiler for elevator guide rails, com- I prising areservoir to becarried by the elevator, distributors slidably mounted in the 1 lowerpart of said reservoir and beneath the lubricant, means for holding saiddistributers in operative contact with the guide rail, internal tubes,wicks extending upwardly from the bottom of said reservoir into, downand through said internal tubes, a pocket provided in the under fportionof said oiler, said wicks emerging rom said tubes into said pocket andthence to the distributers, said distributers being provided with abridge wall having a sloping surface, the lower portion thereofterminating at the face of said distributers to permit the lubricant toflow to the guide rail without interruption, said bridge wall providinga, storage space for the lubricant when the elevator is not in motionand means to drain the lubricant from such storage space when theelevator is in motion.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 20 Witnesses:

M. H. LAWRENCE, M. VAN BOOSKIRK.

